Dead Wood Divas & Chopping Down A Forest

We felled the Forest
Expected a stern test

But their hopes were swiftly extinguished
From front to back we were distinguished

Cracking strikes
Particularly from Alioski - cool as he likes

Everyone working for the team
We've got momentum it would seem

A cavalier charge in the joke cup
And in the league we move on up

I'm beginning to warm to our fresh group
Chris Wood is in the soup

A mere stain on the copybook
With a little bit of luck

He'll be long forgot
Sorry? Not a jot

Passion and pride
Players seemingly taking pressure in their stride

There's tweaks to be done
But that's an impressive run

Going into the international break
I want to have my cake

And gorge on more action
This better not be a distraction

To the momentum we have gained
Feeling pained

Choir concerts keep me away
But suffice to say

I'll be back for the grudge match with Garry
Unlike agent Larry

This guy's going to be taken down
Oh what a clown

For leaving us in the lurch
Can't wait for an unholy war at 'church'

But before we settle that score
A few other teams knock on the door

So let's knuckle down for the ride
This time let's not be denied

A promotion winning spot
Let's keep us going white hot!

Simon Says... All Leeds Aren't We?!

Agent Grayson strikes again
TC rightly proud of his men

As Chris Wood threw out the teddy
We were ready

To see Leeds capitulate
But for all Sunderland's capacity to frustrate

We rode the storm
Hit form

Not a one man show
Up the football league we go


Faces old and new shared the spotlight
This group's tight

Passion as well as flair
In Samuel Saiz what a player we have there

Ayling Mr Dependable
Do not linger thoughts on Wood the expendable

Pontus on full head of steam
There's no I in our team

Alioski a cult hero
I'm warming to our new gaffer you know

Injuries a fly in the ointment
Yet you can see the intent

A work in progress
I confess

I wasn't sure of what's unfolding
But with investment we'll be holding

More than the money from Wood
We really could

Be putting a hand on a trophy
Silly old me

Getting excited
Hopes reignited

This is Leeds we will have a tougher test
Though right now I'm feeling blessed ;)

What is this feeling so sudden and new?!

In the words of a Wicked song what is this feeling so sudden and new?
What's a cynical girl to do

With all these feelings of positivity
Possibly

This may finally be it
TC may finally have hit

The nail on the head
Let's put the past to bed

The stand out performers of late
Like Saiz greedy for more goals on the plate

Are our men
Count to ten

We have a solid base
With which to chase

The moneyed pack
Okay a step back

Port Vale hardly a big hitting team
But please allow me to bask in a sunbeam

Of light at the end of the tunnel there
Do I dare

To put on a bet
Let's get set

For another rollercoaster ride
We look like a promising side


Though whether they can mix it on a long trip
Or respond after a blip

Who knows?
Let's see how it goes

The future's bright
The future seems ... all white ;)

Humble Pie for Rooney - Reflection on Leeds' past

Wayne Rooney. I'm jealous that he has the opportunity I know Alan Smith would've loved at Leeds. There'll be derision and divisions at Everton but it would've been easy to sit there and have yet more money at the theatre of nightmares. I'm jealous. Leeds fans just watch their best academy products bouncing around in the Premier League while we keep churning them out of our football factory for everyone else to enjoy them. Don't think I'll ever see a similar situation again though I saw it a bit with David Batty and he helped us get to semis of the Champions League.

Football is a business. You have to make unpalatable decisions in a short career. To finish at his boyhood club clearly must mean something to him despite it all. It's a gamble, if you can keep him fit and motivated he should easily have another few years left.If you're lucky enough to be a fan -and play for your boyhood club then finish your career there by hook or by crook then yeah I get it. Sure best days are far beyond him but that's still an astute signing if kept fit. Extra motivation (should he need it) dealing with doubters. These days football is a hard nosed business and there's rarely room for sentiment. I miss Mr Smith in a Leeds shirt every time I go to ER. I know he's much older and best hope is that he may coach at Leeds one day or perhaps even turn up managing an opposing team, who knows.

Sign Garry Monk

Disappointing stuff
Feeling a bit rough
Didn't do enough

Bore draw?
Head sore
Failings we cannot ignore

Kiss the season goodbye
I've enjoyed the ride cannot lie
Still a shame to see promotion dream die

We lack a Batty in midfield
More strike power than Woods we should yield
A few loanees appealed

But then it went a bit stale
Epic fail
Don't send me hate mail

Pontus went off the boil
For all the toil
The bans did spoil

Bartley showed some class
But that form did somehow pass
Now mostly crass

Weird how we faultered
Destiny altered
Still I'm undettered

In supporting sign Garry Monk
Time Cellino did a bunk
He cramps my funk

Investment needed
Words should be heeded
Dead wood weeded

Highs and Lows Its How It Goes....

What on earth was that?!
Mr Negativity proclaimed Roofe a tw*t

And worse
I could write chapter and verse

About the first half calamity
But I'm all for positivity

We got our money's worth and more
Neither side convincingly shut the back door

Can't say it was dull
As Elland Road was full

The tank was spent
As was the intent

Heads may have dropped a while
In denial

But hey what a comeback
Courage we didn't lack

Canaries must have been spitting feathers
Yet for all our endeavours

It was end game
It was plain

That this was not our year
No time to shed a tear

One more game to face
Then we will know our place

Get planning for the summer
Life's a bummer

How many will stay?
Mad Massimo and co have a part to play

Back Garry
The man so many on Twitter want to marry

He's been taken to our hearts
It's waivered in fits and starts

Overall we can say
This guy has got to stay

He's a prospect
His man management has had an effect


Off pitch as well as on
Sometimes he has got substitutions wrong

Selections perhaps a bit bloody minded
Let's not get blinded

This has been a great ride
By our own hands we've been denied

Invest
Put the ownership to the test

If this is what Garry does with peanuts and pence
Oh so intense

So close yet so far
Who knows next year we could be celebrating in a bar

Big backing
Let's not be slacking

Clear what we need to do
Onwards for the men in white yellow and blue (PS have I said Garry we love you?!)

Points Mean Prizes

Doom and gloom
There was no room

For error at all
Damn you football

Fell for a Burton
Shut the curtain

We should've walked it
Misery a bottomless pit

It's the same old story
Faint hope of playoff glory

Will the real Leeds United stand up?
As I drown my sorrows in a large coffee cup

Where did that safety cushion go?
Cruel blow

Credit where it's due
We all knew

We were riding our luck
Blotting our copybook

Nabbing lucky points
That made us dare

Hope for a chance
But at a glance

We've overstretched ourselves
Dust gathers on the trophy shelves

Massimo time to go
Feels good to chant that you know

January blues
Give Monk his dues

He tried
But the table never lied

We needed reinforcements
For all the magic moments

We needed more
Still it's not been a bore

So used to dodging relegation
Once the frustration

Subsdides
We may appreciate the season's more exhilarating rides

Moments of togetherness
For all the stress

A win against Brighton the champion elect
The Chris Wood effect

Jansson Ayling Berardi
Kyle Bartley

May not stick around
But at times they've made Elland Rd a fierce ground

On a shoe string
These guys have made us sing

Out proud
And very loud

We ran out of steam
It would seem

Moments of the old Leeds
Midfield misdeeds

Lack of Plan B
But hey we must see

The promise Monk brought
For the most we fought

Pride
In our side

Never mind
Consolation we must find

In having something to play for late in the game
One day we'll be up there again

Not a great day today but some funny moments involving Mr Negativity, a game of Hokey Cokey by bemused latecomers at the wrong end of the stand, wheelchair switcheroo, a disabled supporter with a carer more interested in her phone than the game, a lone voice shouting himself hoarse and the baffling tweet I clocked earlier suggesting Garry Monk out. Normal service resumes for some crazy 'fans'
I've seen some diabolical games. Disappointing? Yes. End of the world? Definitely not.... this was poor but we've still somehow got something to play for which hasn't happened in a long time.

Dropped The Ball
Oh dear
Complacency cost us here

Expected more
But no one should kick Monk out the door

Tactics wrong
Passing took too long

No finesse
Oh the stress

We made Wolves look good
Back to earth with a thud

Midfield absent
Pontus hell bent

On taking one for the team
I don't want to be mean

But Phillips is not good enough
Time to get tough

Cannot drop the ball
Rallying call

Pull yourselves together
This storm we will weather

Tough run ins for many
But that penny

Has to drop
With regards to consistency

Not hard to see
Where we lack class
Our pass

Is poor
At times my jaw hit the floor

Basic
Missing every simple trick

Points mean prizes
No compromises

Monk needs to give tough love
A hearty shove

Up the bum
Let's get this job  done

Just about within our hands
Every Leeds fan demands

100 per cent
Today heads went

No more
I won't be a bore

Let this be a blip today
A big 3pts at Burton and we're on our way

Barcodes Checked

At the death
We could finally draw breath

As Chris Wood struck
Stroke of luck

Battling display
Ref frustrating to both sides' dismay

Newcastle dominated
Yet in equal measure procrastinated

Corners wasted here and there
Pontus with his icy glare

Tackles a plenty in the game
Like a moth to a flame

This match attracted a lot of tension
I must mention

That I missed their goal going out
Strength in depth no doubt

But Leeds had heart
That late goal took apart

A previously solid defence
Our persistence in adversity was immense

A team of which to be proud
Are we allowed

To start thinking the unthinkable
Garry Monk's belief unshakeable

I don't want to be a jinx
Can't quite manage forty winks

All this drama unfolding
Up the table we are marching

Onwards we go
Wolves on Monday no gimmick though

Big Win

Big win

Get in

Feeling fine

When we crossed the white line

We rode our luck

But to our plan we stuck 

Roofe came out with credit

The team did fit

Despite pre match grumbles

Keyboard warrior mumbles 

We stuck the knife in our old boy

Enjoy

Beckford welcome home

Nah Cellini hold the phone

No ghosts of play offs past

Let's put jitters to bed fast

Work to do

That is true

Yet if heart and desire

Takes us to the wire

Then who am I to complain

Lots of threats at Newcastle to contain

Though if we can replicate home form

Positive conclusions can be drawn

About the strength of this Leeds team

To dust off and chase the dream

Winning ways again

Defeats have been a stinging pain

Tempered by unwanted distractions here and there

But Garry has taken great care

To foster a great belief

A win doesn't just bring relief

It reignites a hope

That we could cope

Amongst the best

No mistaking Friday is a tough test 

Moaning on Together

Oh dear

Brentford had no fear

Of the Mighty Whites

We've seen some sights

But right now we are on a slippery slope

Trying not to lose hope

Of regaining ground

But our recent form far from sound

What's all that about?

Creeping doubt

Fasten your seatbelts all

A rallying call

Points to be grabbed

Positions to be nabbed

Preston are on fire

We've been drab and kind of dire 

Let's give the old boy a bloody nose 

Pride back in the white rose

Of Leeds

Thanks Simon for all your deeds 

But only one team to take the glory

Let's consign recent form to history 

I Predict A Riot

A game of two halves perhaps
Defensive collapse
Judgement lapse

Win lose or draw
It's never a bore
We Leeds fans know the score

Sometimes you lose your head
Let's put this dour defeat to bed
No more to be said

A few missing links
Time for forty winks
Whatever the keyboard warrior thinks

This has been a great season
Up to now there's been cohesion
Rhyme and reason

But now and then a mask slips
Form dips
Fortune tips

Heyho
We're still in the mix though
Can't let Garry go

We need to regroup
3pts or we're in the soup
Sticky situation like gloop

Wading through the twitter twaddle
Without Pontus we're a canoe without a paddle
Let's get back on the saddle

Less keyboard clacking
More player backing
Brentford's in for a whacking

We're in a good place
We can find solace
In how we can find space

Amongst the chasing pack
Courage we don't lack
Let's not change tack

Winning mentality
What will be will be
Plenty more points for me

Leeds Are Going Up?

Rode our luck
But that tune is stuck

In my head
Long after I've gone to bed

Leeds are going up an na naaa
We've come so far

This squad has been stretched
Some team selections perplexed

Yet job done
Game won

Showed no fear
This could be our year

Fortress Elland Road once more
The mighty roar

Of an expectant crowd
Every player did us proud

Pontus is a cult favourite
On the bench chomping at the bit

Cooper not so lauded
Yet he too should be applauded

Garry sticks to his guns
Love the guy tonnes

A manager in which we trust
A long term contract is a must

Chris Woods has battered down the door
Of doubts and derision saying he's poor

Doukara involved for the penalty
Clear to see

Every single man
Is a fan

Of what we are trying to do
On and off pitch they bleed white yellow and blue

Refreshing to see
Positivity

Still a few speed bumps to hit
But the crowd will do their bit

Keep marching on together
The promotion train's hell for leather

Hurtling down the track
Passion we don't lack

Keep the faith all
What a night of football

Meh!

A point at home against Brighton may seem more palatable than today but they may come at us more  and that may suit Leeds. Ultimately if you stop Woody and choke our crossing chance that stops us, Sacko looked good at times but pretty football doesn't always pay. The ref was annoying, particularly in the second half but we just weren't good enough. Not a classic and a bit frustrating but nice not to be freezing cold and a point is a point. Seen us play a lot worse but had no plan B, QPR sussed us every time we got forward , both keepers barely tested barring a couple of good saves from Green.

Not great
Second rate

Seen worse
Yet we seem averse

To getting down to basics
Sacko and his tricks

Woody cut adrift
Midfield needed some lift

Choker
Like a rubbish game of poker

All too often Leeds showed their hand
We must understand

Sometimes you have to win ugly
The skills may be lovely

Yet QPR were made to look alright
Try as we might

This was dour
We toiled for over an hour

Tactically not quite right
Yet the playoffs within sight

A point gained
At the whistle hope remained

As results largely went for Leeds
For all our misdeeds

Ayling's yellow card
Makes next few games hard

Pass and move
Is Monk's kind of groove

Though today we needed a plan B
It just wasn't to be

Pleasantries from Holloway post match
Can't disguise that if we are to catch

The leaders of the pack
We need to radically change tack

Questions
Tensions

Running commentary behind
Criticisms outlined

Let's not be bitter
Obsess on Twitter

Things are alright
Hold on tight

We'll be there or thereabouts
No doubts

Late Pain But A Point's Gained

A couple of  notable absentees

We weren't pulling up trees

Thanks for the own goal

Didn't need a begging bowl

But anyway 

We didn't do too badly today

Fulham will be in the playoff mix

Full of tricks

Everything but the kitchen sink thrown

Let it be known

At times we rode our luck

But the steely big parked truck

Of our defence

Was pretty immense 

Creativity lacking

Maybe we could've been laughing 

With a bit more luck on our side 

Yet Fulham were not to be denied

Of a fair point shared 

We came prepared 

Thinking a point would be good 

Yet in the event 3pts we should

Have grabbed 

Felt like I'd been stabbed

With that cruel blow

A cracking strike though

Still questions remain 

Though you'd be insane

Not to fancy us for playoff

Cough cough 

Bring on QPR 

Please be 3pts - ta!! 

Dare We Believe?

Dare we believe?
That we can achieve
The dream
With this team
Of going back to the Prem
With these men
At times we're lacking
Nerve wracking
But the spirit is alive
We have drive
Desire
From manager to player there is a fire
Inconsistent
Persistent
Old habits stick
Though I nitpick
We mostly get the job done
We won
End of debate
First half not great
Second half we put it to bed
What more to be said?
Never mind looking over the shoulder
Let's be bolder
March on with belief
No more grief
About the past
Let's build a team to last
Tough tests ahead
Though wins like us stand us in good stead
In Garry Monk we trust
Another 3pts Tuesday AND Saturday a must

Clipping Wednesday's Wings

Marching On Together the crowd sings
For Wednesday that defeat stings
Victory was hard fought
Their defence was caught
Ref was on their payroll
Played a frustrating role
In trying to thwart the progress
Much to the home side's distress
Justice with Green's save
We rode the wave
Of second half nerve biters
Not a classic
But I shan't nitpick
A win is all
Leeds fans can walk tall
Further towards the dream
Not a convincing team
More work to do
For the men in white yellow and blue
But Wood is cooking on gas
Garry Monk continues to ooze class
Sign him up Massimo
Up the football league we go

Ipswich Glitch?

Pitch pulled apart
We're going to hell in a handcart

No excuses boys
Put away those toys

Roll up the sleeves
Send for a strong whisky Jeeves

Funny results about
Still in with a shout

Not a classic
Midfield didn't quite tick

Bang average game
This is not about blame

Should not feel like a defeat
Let's be upbeat

Few thought we'd be in the mix
We can squabble about who Garry picks

Yet make no mistake
Saturday all three points we must take

Big call
Must give all

No time for an off day
It must go our way

Bang heads together
Marching on together

Ship Shape And Bristol Fashion?

We've had our blips
Fewer misses than hits

Chris Wood
Is rather good

Hernandez has silky skill
Huddersfield winning a bitter pill

But we've ridden the storm
Returning to form

Pontus back
Defence best form of attack

Yet they gave us scares
Splitting hairs

We're doing alright
Table looking bright

3pts for Valentine's Day
Wahey ;)

Will the real defence stand up?!

It's 50 Shades of Leeds
Defence wilted like rotting leaves

 Sometimes you have to accept the punishment
For all the intent

We just didn't get going
Nothing ebbing nor flowing

 Heyho
Here we go

Negative vibe merchants out to play
Just wasn't our day

Hope Jansson's back in midweek
3pts we seek

We've been 'Warnocked'
Midfield shellshocked

Tactics strangled the game
Felt league one style lame

Scruffy stuff
Didn't do enough

We conceded poor goals
Had we swapped managerial roles?

Thought Warnock was still ours
As the mood sours

Let's get a grip
It's just a dip

Cardiff did a number on us
Parked the bus

Fussy ref was irritating
Everything about the game frustrating

Never mind
I'm the positive kind

Tough test Tuesday
Learn from today

In Monk we trust
Promotion or bust